"We still have a few more good opportunities to get that right" - Chris Hamilton disappointed by DSM's sprint set-up on opening stage of the Tour Down Under

With the 2024 road season having gotten underway at the Tour Down Under, it's time to see whose preparations have been best over the off-season. For Team DSM-Firmenich Post NL, it wasn't an ideal opening stage.

“It was a very hot day to get the race started here in Australia," reflected Team DSM-Firmenich Post NL's experienced road captain, Chris Hamilton post-stage to his team's official website. "The main objective for the day was to keep Oscar safe and out of trouble which we did."

One of the team's new signings over the off-season is Emils Liepins with team bosses at DSM believing the Latvian national champion can develop into a race-winning sprinter. With stage 1 of the 2024 Tour Down Under going all the way to a bunch sprint finale, this was the first tester of the Liepins-sprint star theory. Sadly, 24th was all he could manage as former DSM man Sam Welsford took the spoils.

"In the finale we wanted to set up the sprint with Emils, but unfortunately that didn’t quite go to plan," Hamilton admits. Nevertheless, he remains optimistic. "We still have a few more good opportunities to get that right here and the guys are motivated for that and the other chances throughout the week.”